Pierson Wins USAC DMA Race Three of Triple Crown Presented by New England Racing Fuel at Bear Ridge Speedway
Ellington, CT: Adam Pierson, driving his FMR 76M midget, was not going to be denied the race win to score the Triple Crown Presented by New England Racing Fuel. And by nights end he had succeeded in winning both.
Heat race one started with the 18C of Mike Chaffee on pole and the 15 driven by Jeff Champagne starting second. With the drop of the green flag, Chaffee in the 18C would take control of the race and hold the point while the 15 of Champagne was second and the 11 with Alex Rose at the wheel held the third spot. On lap three and with Chaffee in his 18C still in control of the race, Champagne’s 15 starting losing ground as did the 11 of Rose but coming to the front was Ray Miller in the 1W followed by Adam Whitney in the 12 now running second and third respectively. Miller and Whitney would play cat and mouse for several laps while the 18C of Chaffee kept the point. With three to go, Whitney is his 12 would get around Miller in the 1W to take second moving Miller back to third. When the race came to the end, Mike Chaffee from Cornith, VT would get the win followed by the 12 of Adam Whitney for second and rounding out the top three was Ray Miller in the 1W.
Heat race two had the 9 piloted by David Moniz starting on the pole position with the 33 of Tim Gallant starting second. FMR teammates Adam Pierson in the 76M and Josh Sunn driving his 67 would start tail end of the field. When the green came out the 9 of Moniz and Gallant in the 33 would take the top two spots with Dean Christensen in the 69 holding third. On lap three, Moniz would go wide in the turn which handed the race lead over to Gallant in the 33 who was now followed by the 69 of Christensen in second and rounding out the top three and after starting last, was Pierson in the 76M. Gallant’s lead was quickly taken away by Pierson which moved Gallant to second. With two to go and Pierson holding a comfortable lead, his teammate in the 67, Josh Sunn, would make his way into second place which moved Gallant in the 33 back to third. Under the checker flag it would be the 76M of Adam Pierson from Bradford, VT getting the win followed by the 67 of Josh Sunn for second and Tim Gallant in the 33 for third.
Now on to the Midget Dash race which had the 33 of Tim Gallant on the pole position and Mike Chaffee with his 18C in second. As with the second heat race, the FMR teammates Adam Pierson in the 76M and Josh Sunn driving his 67 would start tail end of the field. The four lap dash race went by quickly and was green from start to finish. By the final lap and in the end, it was Josh Sunn from White River Junction, VT taking the win with his teammate Adam Pierson in the 76M for second and the 33 of Tim Gallant holding the third finishing spot.
With the feature line up now ready, it would be the 18C of Mike Chaffee starting inside pole position and the 15 of Jeff Champagne starting in the second spot outside the front row. With the green flag waiving, Chaffee’s 18C would take the point at the front of the field and by lap two the 1W of Ray Miller would move into second while Champagne in the 15 would start falling off. On lap three, the 46 driven by Kenny Johnson, would spin close to the front of the pack and kept on running causing excitement not only on the track but also in the grandstands as fans came to their feet. Without missing a beat, the 18C of Chaffee and the 1W of Miller would continue the battle for first and second while the 4 of Kevin Chaffee was now in third. While the top two of M Chaffee and Miller would settle into position the race was on for third on back with two and three wide passing action and position changes with ever lap. The race was run under green flag conditions from lap one to lap seventeen when the caution would come out for a spin in turn three and four. Back to green with Mike Chaffee in the 18C and Ray Miller in the 1W still holding the top positions. By the time the field came back around for lap eighteen it would be Adam Pierson in the 76M now taking the lead pushing the 18C of M Chaffee back to second and Miller in the 1W back to third. It was not long before second and third positions would change again with the 67 of Josh Sunn in second and Kevin Chaffee in the 4 holding third with the 76M of Pierson still leading. Mike Chaffee in his 18C would continue to drop back with mechanical issues. With two to go and the top two spots holding tight, Dean Christensen in the 69 got around the 4 of K Chaffee and took third from K Chaffee. At the race conclusion it would be Adam Pierson from Bradford, VT in the 76M getting the win followed by his FMR teammate in the 67 Josh Sunn for second and rounding out the top three was the 69 of Dean Christensen.
Adam Pierson earned the Triple Crown Championship Presented by New England Racing Fuel by winning at Albany-Saratoga Speedway and taking the win at Bear Ridge Speedway. Pierson scored the win in two out of the three races the series ran for the Triple Crown.
The series will be back in action on September 19th at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT for the seasons second to last race of the year.
Heats Race Results from 9/5/15
Heat Race 1:
1) Mike Chaffee 18C
2) Adam Whitney 12
3)Ray Miller 1W
4) Kenny Johnson 46
5) Alex Rose 11
6) Jeff Champagne 15
7) Robert Tucker 17
8) Dylan Duhaime 57
9) Jeff Horn 1R
Heat Race 2:
1) Adam Pierson 76M
2) Josh Sunn 67
3) Tim Gallant 33
4) Dean Christensen 69
5) Kevin Chaffee 4
6) Derek Graham 5
7) Scott Holcomb 47
8) David Moniz 9
Dash Race:
1) Josh Sunn 67
2) Adam Pierson 76M
3) Tim Gallant 33
4) Adam Whitney 12
5) Mike Chaffee 18C
6) Ray Miller 1W
Feature Race Results from 9/5/15:
1) Adam Pierson 76M
2) Josh Sunn 67
3) Dean Christensen 69
4) Kevin Chaffee 4
5) Adam Whitney 12
6) Derek Graham 5
7 Ray Miller 1W
8) Tim Gallant 33
9) Dylan Duhaime 57
10) Robert Tucker 17
11) Kenny Johnson 46
12) Jeff Horn 1R
13) Scott Holcomb 47
14) Jeff Champagne 15
15) Alex Rose 11
16) David Moniz 9
17) Mike Chaffee 18C
Lap leaders for heat race 1: Lap 1 to 8 was the 18C of Mike Chaffee
Lap leaders for heat race 2: Lap 1 & 2 was the 9 of David Moniz,
Lap 3 was the 33 of Tim Gallant, Lap 4 to 8 was the 76M of Adam Pierson
Lap leaders for dash race: Lap 1 & 2 was the 33 of Tim Gallant, Lap 3 & 4 was the 67 of Josh Sunn
Lap leaders: Laps 1 to 17 was the 18C of Mike Chaffee, Laps 18 to 25 was the 76M of Adam Pierson
To learn more about the USAC Dirt Midget Association, please visit the series website at www.usacdma.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DirtMidgetAssociation
For additional information regarding this press release please contact Mark J. Hann, USAC DMA Public Relations & Marketing, at (860) 256-5574 or usacdma@usacdma.com
Sources: Mark Hann/USAC Dirt Midget Association PR